Does anyone have a recommendation/favorite electronic tuner? I have a basic Korg and sometimes it can differentiate bass or contrabass notes, sometimes not. It would be nice/a great time-saver to have a tuner that can quickly recognize more than the octave surrounding middle C.
KP

I use a Seiko ST-1100. These days it's a bit old fashion but does well on the contrabasses down to the low G. For a low F the octave harmonic is more reliable but that note often sounds muddy, at least it does on my zithers. I've done ok with a clip-on Snark tuner but the Seiko is much better.

No, it's not cheap but I have found it to be a very useful tool. I've had it for years. I just use the built in microphone. Not good for noisy situations but does great most of the time. For times when I'm getting ready to go on stage and there is a lot of noise around I use the Snark. I clip it to one of the tuning machine knobs. Not as good as the Seiko but adequate for touch ups. If you need more info about this just let me know.

I just checked. Seems like this tuner has been discontinued but I saw one on eBay that went for $35.00 but was sold. If you can find one, they really are great. The new one, the ST-1100 sat I think, is expensive. Don't know what the specs are. I paid about $100.00 for mine quite a few years ago, at least ten.

You choose what note you need, and the note plays. Use your ear to match the pitch.

You can "adjust" the tuner for various tuning standards, timbre, loudness, etc.

Especially with a plucked string, a "listening tuner" changes as the slightly higher pitch settles down. Yet when we play, each time the string is plucked (stroked, touched, etc.) it sounds slightly higher than when the tuner listened to it.

Great point Tom! This is especially true if your strings are old. Over the years I've grwon accustomed to averaging out what the meter says with what my ears tell me. None of them are foolproof but I do like a tuner that has a VU meter and lets me know how flat or sharp it is in cents. Then I can do my own adjusting.

I use a Snark clamp on tuner for all my instruments. Some of them have a switch to change from vibration to mic, in case you are turning a wind instrument. For all my stringed instruments I use these. They are inexpensive so I buy lots of them and keep the in the case of each instrument. They just clamp on and tune based on vibration so you can tune even when others are making noise.

Everyone that I know in bands uses either these or some type of clip on tuner.